Transformers Masterpiece G2 Sideswipe Review

I love the Transformers Masterpiece line. I tried to lie to myself for awhile, to stay out and save money, but all that ended up doing was keeping me from buying a reasonably priced Starscream. Yes, I know there’s a new one for $200, but really, Hasbro can’t avoid Screamer at retail forever, right? And then there’s Skywarp… I’ll save all that nonsense for a jet review, maybe Sunstorm, or Acidstorm, or Thundercracker… man, that’s a lot of opportunities with one mold, isn’t it?

All the remolds are more or less the one area where I’m not sure what to do about Transformers: Masterpiece though. See, Starscream aside, I keep buying all the releases since MP-10. All the repaints. Now the aforementioned jets, I don’t mind. I loved F-15s as a kid (I was huge into fighter jets, bet I’ve never told you that) and they’re all characters I think are cool. Okay, Acidstorm was pushing it, but he’s green, okay?

Year of the Horse Optimus Prime has been kept at bay, but that clear trailer? That’s to die for. I love it. I even think the gold accents kinda look neat, but I think he’s finally a bridge too far for my collection. I didn’t buy the one time I saw him. I do have plenty of repaints though: the “black” version of Prime which I consider Scourge or Nemesis Prime depending. I have Soundblaster, though that was more about getting Ratbat. The Fairlady Z cars, but they’ve all been crucial G1 guys. And then there’s the Lamborghinis. Sideswipe & Red Alert? Gotta have ‘em. Tigertrack… he was maybe pushing it, but Lambroginis look so sweet in yellow and he was unique character.

But now there’s G2 Sideswipe. He’s still Sideswipe (-1), but Lamborghinis look slick in black, don’t they? (+1).* I waffled back and forth on him quite a bit, but (as usually happens) he ended up on his way to my house. I blame his guns, but we’ll get to that in a minute. In the short-lived Generation 2 comic and toyline, Sideswipe got a color swap. What was black now was red and what was red now black. This may sound rather inconsequential, but it’s kinda important for Sideswipe. His mold buddy, Red Alert, didn’t have a new deco toy in the G2 line and met a grisly fate in that same comic series. Sucks when you don’t have a toy version Hasbro is trying to sell.

* – I wonder what color Lamborghinis look bad in?

While I’m wishy-washy on if I should’ve bought G2 Sideswipe and poking fun at the mold re-use, it’s not really because of mold reuse. That’s an integral part of collecting Transformers. The mold reuse now is largely possible due to mold reuse then. But cost & space do come into play. At $60-80 a pop for these Cars*, I just don’t know if I need every single release anymore. I never had the original toy of G2 Sideswipe (and, strangely, have little affinity for his neon green stickers) and was not even familiar with the comic appearance with his awesome commando gear until this very figure was announced. The whole product tie-in thing works in reverse when the toy has you hunt down the media, right? I’m not sure why I just needed to spend $80 on him sometimes.

* – Granted I’m importing them and the TRU price will hopefully be a little cheaper, but this guy is not likely to be available there.

Space is the other factor. MPs take up room and the line is looking amazingly healthy right now. My dream toy is coming, Ultra Magnus, and he looks spectacular! (No, I don’t care one second about the white inner robot being skipped, but speaking of repaints, Takara could make easy money off me with a white repaint of Prime!). And then there’s Bumblebee & Wheeljack! If the line continues to do well… well, let’s just say there are plenty of guys I have to have, and have to have room & money for. I worry about what will happen to guys like G2 Sideswipe or this upcoming, unrevealed repaint of Bluestreak (all-silver is prolly a no go for me, but if it’s blue we’ll talk). I can’t know what I’ll do, but I’d like to figure it out and maybe save some dough, y’know? Continue to Page 2…

19 comments to Transformers Masterpiece G2 Sideswipe Review

I was trying to avoid getting into the Masterpiece line myself for quite a while. I only had MP Grimlock and MP-10 Optimus from TRU and wasn’t able to get MP Soundwave and his minions due to scalpers, but then someone locally this past month seold me a spare Soundwave he had for sale. He also brought Bluestreak with, and within a few weeks I had Prowl, Smokescreen, and Sideswipe as well.

I have had to settle for a KO Red Alert for now, but he’s apparently getting a 2nd run like Sideswipe did down the road and already have myself prepared to get Wheeljack, Bumblebee, and Ultra Magnus…so I’m thoroughly hooked.

G2 Sideswipe is one I’ve been debating back and forth on getting along with SoundBlaster (Ratbat is my reason mainly for him as well).

You mention the lack of Sideswipe’s bandolier.. A 3rd party company is actually making it along with some other stuff he used in the comic actually, so you will get to have him look more like his comic here soon.

Once you get a few, they pile up easy! I went with just Prime for the longest time and the disappoint Hot Rod kept me out a little longer, even avoiding Prime until the TRU release. But after him, I just kept getting the cars as they rolled out and have gone back to get the post-MP10 ones I don’t have expect Starscream. It’s easy to get caught up in them!

On Soundblaster – man, I love Ratbat, but the blue on Soundwave is so dark, it’s almost hard to tell ’em apart. LOL

And thanks! I look into the bandolier. If he’s gonna be in bot mode, he could use it.

oh, NOW I’m tempted to buy into these TF MP’s!
black Lambo with red windows are the ginchiest!

At first, I thought this was a basic “cool repaint” they did, I don’t recall the comic giving SS a makeover? or even there being a G2 SS toy? I do recall the Rainbow Prime and green/purple tank Megatron and whatever Soundwave was supposed to be? (riffing on a later GI Joe tank?)

Haven’t started MPs yet but oh how want to its dunno who to start with. I always wanted that early MP Optimus but everytime had the $$$ sold out he was. Now we have MP10 Prime, sideswipe, prowl (he’s a buy since was my second TF back in the day) and Wheeljack and BB coming. If Jazz gets done he is a must as was my first Transformer ever.

A great revies and yes remember him in.G2 and he was bad ass and loved the guns. Too many choices not enough $$$$$ 🙁 well hoping can fix that down the road.

Like you, I was able to avoid the MP siren-song at first. It started slowly, and at this point, the faucet is on full blast. G2 Sideswipe is my favorite of this mold (I have 3 of them at this point). I love the face (is he smelling a fart or is he angry? Who knows?) and I LOVE his accessories, but the main reason I love him is that they fixed the QC issues of the others. Everything about him is just so much smoother now. Panels all glide into place (as opposed to clicking into place), no paint flaking, etc. To be honest, none of those issues bothered me with the previous iterations of the mold, but now that I can see how it was supposed to be, the others pale in comparison.

I really hope this opens the door to more expressive MP figures. Though Bumblebee does have the alternate face, and Magnus looks to have swappable plates as well. I love options, crazy faces, and rad weapons.